GAITHERSBURG, Md., May 18, 2017 /3BL Media/ - Sodexo, world leader in Quality of Life services, was named one of the best companies for multicultural women to work for in 2017 by Working Mother magazine. This honor recognizes U.S. companies that create and use best practices in hiring, retaining and promoting women of color. This year marks the 15th anniversary of the list, and the 7th year that Sodexo was recognized. The complete list is featured in the June/July issue of Working Mother.

Sodexo views diversity and inclusion as a business imperative and as such develops strategic efforts designed to address the barriers and challenges minorities face in the workforce. A recent example of those efforts includes a special mentorship program designed to accelerate the promotional rate for women and minorities in the U.S. As a result, 37 percent of mentees in the program were promoted. Because of programmatic efforts like this, Sodexo employs over 40,000 multicultural women in the U.S., one-third of its workforce.

In addition, Sodexo provides a flexible work arrangement program that enables employees to balance their personal and professional responsibilities. Eighty percent of Sodexo employees report that their supervisor encourages work/life balance.

“Multicultural female employees made up 34 percent of our workforce over the past year and 12 percent of that population earned promotions to manager, senior manager or executive level positions during that same time period,” said Rohini Anand, PhD, senior vice president and global chief diversity officer, Sodexo. “While we celebrate what we’ve accomplished, we are determined to continue growing our diversity and inclusion efforts even more to truly make Sodexo one of the best places to work.”

The Working Mother Best Companies for Multicultural Women application is only available to companies that have at least 500 U.S. employees. The winners were selected based on their answers to an extensive questionnaire covering representation; hiring, attrition and promotion rates; recruitment, retention and advancement programs; and company culture. The Working Mother Research Institute created a scoring algorithm based on the previous year’s benchmark results to determine the winners.

Multicultural women at the Best Companies held steady year over year at 17 percent of the top fifth of earners, surprisingly high since they make up only 4 percent of corporate executives.

Multicultural women make up 22 percent and multicultural men 19 percent of the total workforce at the Best Companies, both increasing one percentage point over last year.

Multicultural women represent 16 percent of employees hired into manager and 10 percent of employees hired into senior manager positions, each increasing one percentage point over last year. They also represent 4 percent of those hired as corporate executives, matching last year and equaling the average representation of multicultural women in that position overall.

“For the second year in a row, multicultural women make up 17 percent of the top fifth of earners at the Best Companies, which is significantly higher than their representation among corporate executives,” says Meredith Bodgas, editor-in-chief, Working Mother Media. “This year’s report is a testament to both the leadership of the top companies and a reminder of the crucial work that still needs to be done to advance women of color in the workplace.”

Sodexo in North America Sodexo USA is an American business that is part of a global, Fortune 500 company with a presence in 80 countries. Delivering more than 100 services across North America that enhance organizational performance, contribute to local communities and improve quality of life, Sodexo is a leading provider of sustainable, integrated facilities management and food service operations. It employs 123,000 Americans at 12,500 sites across the country and indirectly supports tens of thousands of additional U.S. jobs through its annual purchases of $9.2 billion in goods and services from small to large American businesses. In support of local communities across the U.S., the Sodexo Stop Hunger Foundation has contributed close to $30 million over the past 20 years to help feed children in America impacted by hunger.